Bannsiders are back in business

A scintillating second half performance saw Coleraine get back to winning ways with a 3-1 win over Linfield at the Showgrounds on Tuesday night.

Scoreless at the break, goals from Joel Cooper, substitute Jamie McGonigle and Will Patching go some way to making up for the heartbreak of losing to Ballymena United on Boxing Day.

Matthew Shevlin and Lewis McGregor both went close in the opening 45 minutes but it was left to former Linfield fans' favourite Cooper to break the deadlock seven minutes after the restart.

Matthew Shevlin did well to get a flick on a Lyndon Kane ball forward and Cooper simply ran through to plant his left foot shot into the far corner of the net past Chris Johns.

Shevlin was at it again later when he got above his marker to flick an Aidan Harris punt forward into the path of second half replacement Jamie McGonigle.

The Dungiven man took a touch to get the ball out of his feet before despatching a low angled drive low into the goal.

The visitors were thrown a lifeline on the stroke of full-time when Dean Jarvis was adjudged to have handled in the box and Chris McKee coolly finished from the spot.

But any hopes of a Blues' comeback were dispelled just minutes later when Will Patching stroked home a beautiful right footed curling effort from just outside the penalty box to make the game safe.

The win sees Ruaidhri Higgins' side close to within four points of league leaders Larne, who were held to a scoreless draw at home to Cliftonville.

The top two meet in what promises to be a massive game at Inver Park on Friday night.

As for Linfield, they suffer a third successive defeat in the league for the first time since October 2017 when they lost  to Cliftonville, Coleraine and Crusaders.

They are 14 points behind Larne with one game in hand, their grip on the Gibson Cup slowly loosening.

Elsewhere on Tuesday night, Glentoran came from behind to beat Portadown 2-1 at the Oval, Ballymena United lost 2-0 at Bangor, Dungannon Swifts defeated Glenavon 1-0 while Crusaders and Carrick Rangers fought out a 2-2 draw at Seaview.